Manchester United Vs FC Basel Preview - UEFA Champions League

Sir Alex Ferguson has a number of players missing through injury. Photo: Reuters

Sir Alex Ferguson has a number of players missing through injury. Picture - Reuters.

Manchester United will face FC Basel at Old Trafford in their second Group C encounter in the UEFA Champions League.

The English champions will face Basel devoid of a number of key players including their preferred strike duo of Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez. Rooney missed their weekend trip to Stoke with a hamstring injury while Hernandez lasted only 11 minutes in the game before coming off with a dead leg. The match ended as a 1-1 draw - the first league game of the season in which United dropped points - after Nani's goal was cancelled out by Peter Crouch in the second half.

The last few games have seen United's all-conquering fashion dim a bit. They drew against Benfica in the opening group match of the Champions League, and although they won 3-1 against Chelsea next, it was by far their worst performance of the season. That match was followed by the draw at Stoke and with mounting injury problems, Man United are entering a key phase of their season.

They face a Basel side who are the leaders of Group C after they defeated Otelul Galati 2-1 in the opening week. However, it was an unimpressive victory against Galati, who are Champions League debutants. Basel needed a late penalty to win and they'll face a hugely more difficult time away at Manchester United.

The last time the two teams faced each other was in 2003 when Gary Neville scored a rare goal in a 1-1 draw.

Team News

Manchester United will be without their starting strikers and Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez, who are both injured, and Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to start with Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen.

United are also without Nemanja Vidic, Tom Cleverley, Rafael, Darren Gibson, Fredico Macheda and Mame Briam Diouf while Chris Smalling is doubtful.

Basel will be without key player Xherdan Shaqiri who is suspended along with Benjamin Huggel while Valentin Stocker, Gilles Yapi and Genseric Kusunga are all sidelined with injuries.

Prediction

Despite their injury worries, United have far too much strength in depth to be troubled by Basel. A 2-0 win is likely.